FrankyG

Can't stop off at a WalMart that has a grocery? They are usually near freeways, HUGE parking lots where you can park a semi or large truck for a few minutes - just park it a bit away and get some walking in to boot. Check out the deli counter and surrounding area where you could get meats, chicken salad, or Soups. There is also lots of small containers of yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese sticks... Any IHOP, Cracker Barrel, or Denny's restaurant can do up some scrambled eggs with cheese (and later sausage/bacon). I ate that for Breakfast and lunch. And most of those places serve soups too. And definitely pack a cooler or fridge installed if you'd like to save money or time. Love the idea of getting a small one that runs off of the truck's electrical.

Let you in on a little secret... Those burgers are held together with pins and other bits and bobs so the "perfect" pickle and cheese slice and all that stuff doesn't shift when the model bites into it. There is a TINY section of that burger where it is safe to bite into. If they miss, they get the #$@! jabbed out of their mouth. Sometimes there's blood. And the burgers are usually cold since it is safer than trying to hold them at a warm temp (and keeps the lettuce and other veggies looking fresher). And they have to do that take dozens times to get it right, so the model has to spit out the bite or else she'd get sick eating cold gross burger. So after each bite, there's a "cut" and then she spits chewed up food all over the place. Still sound appetizing? Where they just show the beautiful ice cream or something on a plate is even grosser. Check this link out: http://mentalfloss.com/article/30195/11-ways-advertisers-make-food-look-delicious THERE IS GLUE, MOTOR OIL AND HAIRSPRAY ON THAT FOOD. :D If you understand how they make that stuff look amazing...

It gets better. It would get much better if your family was more supportive of you and didn't eat that crap in front of you, but you have to do your part to avoid exposing yourself to that stuff in the early days (for exactly the reasons you experienced; it's depressing to smell/see foods you used to eat and know you should not eat them!!) Your body is still raw and reeling from the surgery, so hunger cues and fullness and all of that is going to feel really off for a while. As far as feeling really down - fat stores hormones. As you lose fat, all of those hormones get flushed back into your body and can cause you to feel down, weepy, angry or other extremes. Be aware that you might experience mood swings, but remind yourself that it isn't really you - it is those hormones! And everyone does get a bit "what did I just do" right after surgery when you're still swollen, sore, and can't hardly drink your little bits of Protein shakes and broths and things taste off or you don't feel any restriction.... This is a VERY short time in your journey, tho, so don't worry - you're going to be feeling great and doing way better in just a little while.

Add some lemon or lime or flavoring to your water. It is REALLY common for plain water to taste off in the early days, but flavorings help.

Ditto Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App +3 Sooooo happy and feel great and it's just going to keep getting better.

Yup. Everything tasted off to me, plain Water was gross, things with sweetener were SUPER sweet.... In the early days, this is pretty common. It gets better the further out you get from surgery, but you may discover things you used to love you no longer like much, and other taste changes. I was kind of neutral on spicy stuff before, but I LOVE spicy stuff now.

A small percentage of people (like me) experience bad nausea when coming out of general anesthesia. I make sure to tell them that before surgery (and reminder when placing IV/speaking to nurse and anesthesiologist) and they put something in before the full anesthetic to prevent the nausea. So if you do end up feeling sick to your stomach - tell the nurses as soon as you can say anything and they can help you then. But keep it in mind to speak up prior to surgery for the next time. I never remember anything from even before them administering anesthetic; I get amnesia from about thirty minutes prior to them starting it to being at the tail end of my recovery room time (if I remember the recovery room at all). Which doesn't bother me at all. But the funny part is apparently I'm able to hold intelligent conversations with the doctors/nurses and have no memory of them whatsoever! But mostly it is no big deal, and should be like falling asleep when you're already really tired to begin with. And you'll wake up feeling like you just dozed off more than likely.

Yes, had it done. Had no idea if it made any difference as I had no symptoms. For the first week, had so much swelling it was hard to get fluids down, but not sure if that was due to the hernia repair, or just "lucky" (doctor said every time he has a major sweller from cutting/surgery, it happens to be the really fair skinned people for some reason). I have a very high threshold for pain, but I really had absolutely zero pain, because my doc also said he makes a point of getting as much of the gas out of the abdomen as possible due to the pain that it causes (they inflate the abdomen with gas in order to move around in there with the laproscopic tools and it can get trapped and HURT for days as you absorb/dissipate it). The only discomfort I had was the large incision where they pull out the stomach part they cut out; it was sore like I'd done lots of sit-ups for about two weeks. I only took pain meds the day of surgery. Once home, nothing because it didn't bother me. But you have no way of knowing if you'll have no, mild, or bad pain for the first couple of days - it's all the skill of the surgeon and pure luck really. But it is temporary and they do make sure to give you decent pain meds and you can always call your doctor's office (and should) if the pain is really bad.

Target always has sales. And they have a huge clearance section online too. You're not missing anything by waiting until you can actually fit into some of the stuff you buy.

I hope you're using sugar-free chocolate milk and puddings. Getting hooked on sugar that early is not going to help with the long-term eating habits. But yes, sounds like you are trying to eat too much and too solid stuff. It doesn't matter if the diet they gave you said to start solids or mushy foods now; your sleeve is telling you it's not ready. So ease it back to more liquid stuff (yogurt and use milks to thin it down?) You might look into getting the high Protein milks like Fairlife or Mootopia (in Texas HEB stores). They are reduced sugar, high protein filtered milk (available in whole and 2%) and you can mix protein powders into them to give them even more of a punch. They won't taste super sweet - just like regular milk and would be a good way to get nutrients in easily.

I eat Aldi's Fit and Active 100% whole grain bread a few times a week. Cheap as can be (I think $1.59/loaf?) Nutritional info for TWO slices: 70 calories Total carbs: 16 grams Dietary fiber: 5 grams Net carbs = 11 grams (5.5 per slice!!) Protein: 5 grams And added bonus is it a soft sandwich type of bread with no fiddly bits that fall off.

One of the things that keeps me in control now (I'm over a year out from surgery) is reading labels and logging my food daily. I still have moments of weakness at the grocery store, and when I do, I'll flip over to the nutrition label, and look at the amount of fat, carbs, sodium and sugar in the object I'm craving. It shocks the ever-loving crap out of me, and I put the #@!$ thing back on the shelf. I am horrified most of the time about the lack of actual nutrition in the things I used to eat regularly. And even more horrified at the amount of awful things (especially the carbs!) they contain. It is absolutely no wonder I got fat eating that stuff. I just ignored the info printed right on the labels. I know logically I could buy some bad stuff and eat it occasionally, but tend to feel like it's not worth the cost - calorie/carbs/whatever - when there are better alternatives out there with less "damage" to my diet. I have things like dark chocolate that I can eat and be satisfied with one small piece instead of eating 2-3 bars. Or sugar free pudding. Or some grapes with cheese. There are always workarounds that are way better than the total crap foods out there. Definitely start tracking your food now. I use a program online (and in app form) call Fat Secret. There are many others like Fitness Pal and such, but find something you like and can stick with and just start logging every bite, every sip. Once you see the amount of calories, fat, sodium, carbs you're eating daily... it will shock you. And you'll start wanting to do better now. After surgery, it is essential to track everything that goes in so you know you are getting just enough calories (not too much, not too little) and can make sure your fat and carbs aren't excessive (most WLS people follow a moderate or low carb diet after - at or under 100 grams of carbs/day).

That is horrible! I hope you press charges on her. People that would steal from their own family (especially when they're incapacitated and in the hospital for surgery) are just awful and you don't need someone that hateful and selfish in your life. Cut her off, and file a police report as soon as you can.

You're going to have mood swings, feel depressed or elated (frequently within minutes of each feeling), and have crazy periods for a while (or get them normalized if you always had crazy periods), and also could have very increased fertility for a while (so make sure you're using birth control and being very careful). Fat stores hormones. Due to the fast elimination of fat, all those hormones are getting flushed back into your system and basically flooding your body with a constant super dose of crazy-making funtimes ahead.

The larger incision is also where they pull out the stomach part they cut out. They have to go through the muscle layers and there are layers of stitches (muscle layer, skin layer) and it definitely will look larger/different and hurt more.

Go try Kroger's Carbmaster line. It has artificial sweeteners, but otherwise it's a great way to get in Protein and low carb (around 4 grams of carbs and 9 grams protein). And they have a ton of flavors. Or try flavored greek yogurt but you'll need to be much more aware of the carbs due to fruit/sugar add-ins. Eating plain greek yogurt without sweetener is awful unless you use it as a sour cream substitute (which I do). I also use it to mix in with scramble eggs (add a table spoon to two eggs, beat with a fork to scramble then cook as normal. You'll get yummy creamy scrambled eggs and extra protein)

If you're getting in good, dense Protein sources (chicken, fish, turkey, etc) as your main meal portion and eating veggies and small amounts of complex carbs each meal, then it's probably not real hunger. It's going to be head hunger. Which is something you'll have to try to get under control if you hadn't been working on it with a therapist or support group before now (relearning how to eat and also figuring out your emotional/psychological attachments to food and breaking those habits). If you're eating simple carbs often now (breads, pastas, rice, potatoes, sugary things) that may be the issue. Simple carbs increase hunger cravings and make you crave more carbs as well. It can be a pretty depressing cycle. But you can detox from carbs by doing a 5 day pouch reset (basically go back to doing liquids/protein drinks for a few days, then soft foods, then the basic protein/veggie progression WLS patients stick to in the early days after surgery).

Are you tracking every bite of food and drink? Are you drinking all the required Water and getting in enough Protein? Are your carbs too high? Are your calories too high? Go back to basics if you are slowed or stalled - track your food, get your minimum water in, protein first, veggies next and complex carbs if there is any room and make sure you're getting just enough calories to have about a 500 calorie/day deficit (not too little as that can cause starvation mode; not too much obviously either).

The sleeve doesn't stretch. They remove the elastic part of the stomach, so it won't ever go back to the size you had pre-surgery. But after about 1 year, your stomach has completely healed up and relaxed, so you will be able to eat a bit more food than you could in the first 6 months. That is definitely to be expected. The main thing you're supposed to be doing with the sleeve is using the honeymoon period (12-18 months after surgery) to relearn how to eat and get used to the smaller portions. If you change up your eating habits for a long enough time by eating healthy, small portions of Protein first, then veggies, then small amount of complex carbs and only eat junk/fast/sugar/simple carb stuff occasionally - then you have given yourself the time and ability to sustain the weight loss for the rest of your life. My doc said that anyone having the sleeve surgery will lose weight even eating absolute crap for the first year or so. After that time period, they'll slowly start gaining it all back and then blame the sleeve for "stretching out" or not working for them. Many doctors use a combo of scare tactics or false information to try to get through to some of their patients they think are not capable of understanding how to change their eating habits. Like outright lying about things like "eat too much and you'll stretch your sleeve" or "drink carbonated beverages and you could cause a leak and die" type of things.

I had a minor hiatal hernia and that meant that my insurance paid about $3K off the total price (I was self pay for the sleeve). I was told I might experience more GERD like symptoms in the beginning. I had never had issues with reflux/GERD before, but I did get them after for the first couple of months and was on a PPI during that time (came off it ASAP as it's not good for long term use). I have no experience with narrowing of the esophagus, but definitely discuss all of this with your surgeon to get better answers.

ETA: Okay I call BS on this poster. Their posts are all "I can eat a whole bagel!" and "I'm drinking beer!" So they either got their sleeve from someone that didn't bother to tell them ANYTHING regarding nutrition, or they are willfully ignoring what they're supposed to be doing, or they're trolling. This is a joke, right? Troll post? LOL and all that? That's really an awful food to eat regularly and frankly not very smart to attempt to eat the whole thing. And even more questionable to make it your one meal a day. Or to even think eating once a day is a good idea. Wow, just all sorts of wrong there. If you're being serious, then you're crazypants even attempting this and eating something that carby regularly is very wrong, and yeah, hardly any Protein, so you're going to lose muscle (and likely hair), feel like crap and start looking sickly after a while of that sort of "diet" habit. You're supposed to be eating protein first, then vegetables, then complex carbs (like brown rice or beans). A bagel with cream cheese is junk food. Why on earth would you think this is a good idea?

Just want to say this, because I am shocked (and sad) that you're eating things like bread, cookies, pizza and other horrible things just 3.5 months out. You should not be eating any of that. You should be eating healthy proteins, veggies and complex carbs. You can eat anything sure, and eventually could reincorporate things like a slice of pizza or a cookie for special occasions... but right now? All you are doing is ruining the time right after the sleeve to throw out all of the bad-for-you food and eating habits and relearn how to eat healthy foods. All patients just about can lose weight for the first year or so even eating total crap like that. But the real reason to have the surgery is to give yourself time to start over - remove the aching hunger and the lack of portion control (the sleeve does this) and you can rebuild healthy eating habits from the ground up. If you don't do this, and continue to eat crap foods more often than not, then eventually your body adjusts to the small portions and the hunger comes back (especially since you've already introduced all those carby/sugary bad-for-you foods this early) and you will regain the weight. And you'll bemoan the fact that the sleeve failed you. But it didn't fail. YOU will, by not taking this time to stop eating crap foods and get a healthy eating pattern installed when you had the chance. Don't let that happen to you after all the hard work and major surgery!! As far as food getting stuck? You're either eating too fast, not chewing it up enough, or eating too much. Measure/weight your food, chew until it is mush, and take some time doing it. And I was off PPI within 3 ish months. I think most docs I've read want you off of them by 6 months at the longest. You should not be taking them long-term (especially with studies coming out showing an increase in Alzheimer's and kidney damage with long-term usage).

If you're hungry and gaining weight, then I'd say you're not eating enough Protein and might be too high on carbs because that's what happens if those two get out of balance. That and not drinking enough Water (thirst can sometimes mimic hunger). I'm just about a year and a quarter, and I'm still losing. It's slowed down to about 6-10 pounds a month now, but I'm also building muscle and see a difference every single month since I started. I'm tracking every bite of food or drink that goes in my mouth daily. I am making sure I am doing protein first, veggies second then if there is room, complex carbs. I'm exercising 5X a week, and I don't eat hardly anything that comes in a box (prepared/prepackaged foods) or from a fast food restaurant. I cook from scratch on most meals to make sure it's tasty and low carb/high protein. I get my water in pretty much every day too - minimum of 64 ounces daily. I have a high activity level right now, so I'm eating around 1400-1600 calories. But mostly, I've just stuck to the basics since I started this journey. So I'd recommend going back to the basics too - track your food, protein first and low carb otherwise, get your water and make sure you're eating just enough calories to have a ~500 calorie deficit, as more than that could make your body think it's starving and have the effect of slowing/stopping weight loss, but if you're eating too many calories, you obviously can gain that way easy. Got to find the sweet spot for your body to let go of the weight.

Really, there is absolutely no way to know for sure. It is dependent on your metabolism, how well you stick to your requirements, your Vitamins, your Water intake, your exercise and just plain chance. You'll also have a chance of thinning hair (due to the first month or two that you're not getting in enough protein). That complication kicks in about the time you're looking to get married, and will last for several months. Some folks don't experience much hair loss, but it can happen and it can get very bad (but it is temporary!!). Is the date already set? Cause if it was me, I'd either move it much further out (minimum of 6 months after sleeve since that's when you should be feeling much better and able to eat solids and should have a good idea of your weight loss progression to know what size approximately), or do it before getting sleeved if you don't mind being your current size for your wedding. It would suck to get married with a dress that didn't fit due to losing too much or not enough, and hair that is thin and limp.